Why am I the ONLY one this excited?! A July 2015 Pre-Trip Report *Updated 6/29*

[Alyissa]

Ok... Search fairy Godmailer! What happens is that people visiting Disney send your kids postcards... And personalize them from a Disney Character! Telling them that they are excited for their upcoming visit!!! How fun is that?? Then ... While ur at Disney.. You can offer to be someone else's fairy god person and mail their kids a few postcards from characters.. . Postmarked from Disney! Kind of like a pay it forward!! : ) I would offer to foot for you.. But I think we will be at Disney just about the same time.

 

[DisneyDreamer0610]

Ok... Search fairy Godmailer! What happens is that people visiting Disney send your kids postcards... And personalize them from a Disney Character! Telling them that they are excited for their upcoming visit!!! How fun is that?? Then ... While ur at Disney.. You can offer to be someone else's fairy god person and mail their kids a few postcards from characters.. . Postmarked from Disney! Kind of like a pay it forward!! : ) I would offer to foot for you.. But I think we will be at Disney just about the same time.

I will have to look into this for my kids! Thanks for the info!

 

[xlsm]

Woohoo!! Another July traveler!!

I love Disney in the summer, crowds and heat be darned!

I applaud you on the hair and nail front...my Disney hair involves prayer and hair elastics. I can leave my hair down for a total of 10 minutes at Disney World, lol.

 

[DisneyDreamer0610]

Woohoo!! Another July traveler!!

I love Disney in the summer, crowds and heat be darned!

I applaud you on the hair and nail front...my Disney hair involves prayer and hair elastics. I can leave my hair down for a total of 10 minutes at Disney World, lol.

I am surprised at how many are not traveling in July this year! I am use to seeing MASSIVE amounts of people heading to the world in July but this year...I can't find many AT ALL! Especially those who want to participate in the "Pay it Forward" thread I started for my resort.

Now, as far as my hair goes, last year when we went in July I had much shorter hair and I went with my husband who swore to me that, that trip would be his last to Disney, but he went because it was just the two of us and we also went to Universal and he LOVES Universal. Half the crowds of Disney - Just sayin'! Even on opening week for Diagon Alley - wait times were like 12 - 20 minutes MAX (except for the diagon alley Escape from Gregots ride - 4-5 HOURS! YIKES!!

Here was my hair on my last trip:

However, with the heat and my hair being twice as thick and twice as LONG...it may be that I end up putting my hair up in a "poof" pony tail and leave long strands of hair hanging around my fat face to try and "hide" that a bit...but then again, it may just end up in one big pony tail too! I know I did not wear my hair like this ALL DAY. After a few photos like this one, we rode water rides and such and of course, the hair went up. I do rely on my sun glasses as a "headband" so that did help me with my hair quite a bit. I could place my sunglasses up and move the hair out of my face inside and keep the hair back behind my ears. When out doors, this was the effect. Hair clips are a wonderful tool too! (If your husband doesn't squish them in his draw string backpack and break them!)

Hopefully this year I have some luck and get at least one good photo with the kids with my hair looking decent. If not, the pony tail wins, but a girl's got to try!

 

[DisneyDreamer0610]

Touring Plans: Get Your Running Shoes Ready!​

When I tour the world, I want to go AS FAST AS I CAN! I just LOVE going from place to place. I do use the fast pass system but after the first 3 fast passes each day, usually there is such a fuss to get another one that I just don't bother. When my husband has gone in the past, he has been able to get a Guest Assistance Card and we could "sight see" nearby each attraction while we waited our turn to get into the fast pass line, however, since my husband is not touring with us this year, I am hoping my dad can get one, if he ends up NEEDING one. My dad recently had a mild heart attack and was cleared to go to Disney by his cardiologist saying, "All that exercise will actually be GOOD for you and your ticker!" However, due to the medications my dad is on, he cannot get over heated and he cannot do too much standing in hot crowded spaces OR ride on REALLY rough "beat you up" rides. Some of the queues at Disney are not air conditioned, and when you pack in the people by the TONS those tight spaces in the heat can cause even the most conditioned of people to feel over heated and sick, so I am concerned about that for my dad. My son also has developed anxiety like my husband in large crowds(obviously not for the same reasons but definitely a concern!), so we may end up having to get a pass just because of him. My goal is to try and do this without a pass...unless my family just cannot because of their medical issues. I do not want to be one of "those people" that you see "cheating the system". My husband has a very legitimate reason to need assistance and HOPEFULLY my son and father won't need the assistance, BUT if either feel it is too overwhelming or too much...we will have to succumb to the NEED for one.

I remember back BEFORE the fastpass system when everyone had to wait in the lines the good old fashioned way! As a kid growing up, and a teen some times, some of those times were boring as ever, but the anticipation that built up waiting for the ride also made the moments and memories that much more special, IMHO! It's too bad this generation doesn't understand the idea of this. They are spoiled by the instant gratification due to technology and that has really spoiled some of the most treasured things in our life! It seems everything in society keeps moving further that direction -- faster, faster, faster, more, more, more! You may not feel that way about waiting in lines, but I feel there is something to be said about the time a family spends in those lines talking to eat other, BONDING, waiting, building anticipation and enabling them to ENJOY themselves more due to the bonding time with your children the communication brings. These days, some of these lines go so fast, you don't slow down to really talk to your kids when you are rushing to get ON the ride. Call me old fashioned, but that's awesome to get on the ride faster, but it also feels wrong in a way because we are missing a step of communication. Just my two cents. SO, if my family can handle the lines without the use of any extra assisance - by golly we will be using the fast pass system for 3 rides each day and we will wait the good ol' fashioned way the rest of the time! Some may say touring the world in two days - 4 days and doing all you want to do that quickly is impossible in today's technology driven amusement park, however, I STILL BELIEVE that PROPER PLANNING PREVENTS POOR PERFORMANCE even on vacation!

Here is how we will tour "The World":
First of all, every day we will participate in the Extra Magic Hours, whether they are AM or PM hours. We are all use to waking up at 5 AM on a normal day (because I am a teacher and our schools START at 7 AM every day) so waking up like that is no sweat off my back. I have the rest of summer to sleep in but while I am in The World, I'm going to enjoy every last moment, every last PENNY, every last ride I can squeeze my butt onto!

That being said, having a smart plan in place is worth gold! I purchased the dining plan this year so that I could be in the parks as much as possible! I also use TouringPlans.com to help me pace and time all rides and attractions so I know what I can get to each day in a reasonable amount of time utilizing no fast passes. If we have extra time because those fast passes shave off some wait time, then that is extra ride time or shopping time somewhere else along the way. The first two days we zip and zoom as fast as we can through everything we want to be sure we get to do or see and then the second two days, we really hit the brakes and ENJOY the moments. I try to mix it up a long the way but that is the plan and I am sticking to it! I am a *little* neurotic and so for this trip I created touring plan flash cards with all the info we need on it so we know where we go next, and what all our options are. It's more a check list than anything but here are my flash cards. I have 1 flash card per park and I am touring two parks per day the first two days. I will laminate these so if they get wet they will hold up and use a sharpie on them to make notes and mark on them. I will put them on a ring and add some decorative ribbons on the ring for that extra "Disney Pazaz" and have a handy little touring book on the trip that can fit into our touring bag we bring into the parks. These fit onto 5" x 7" flashcards. I will post pictures of the final products later.

Day 1 - AM - Animal Kingdom, 8AM Extra Magic Hours

Day 1 - PM - Magic Kingdom, Extended Summer Hours to 12AM

Day 2 - AM - Magic Kingdom

Day 2 - PM - Hollywood Studios, Extra Magic Hours 12AM

Day 3 - AM - Epcot, Extra Magic Hours

Day 3 - PM - Kids CHOICE! They get to tell us what they want to do OR we can just be lazy and hang out by the pool and explore our resort!

Day 4 - AM/PM - We get together the evening before and ask each kid what is ONE ride from each park they want to do again. We write them all down, along with asking them if there were any characters that we didn't get to meet yet they wanted to meet or any shows or parades they wanted to see. We schedule our last day according to a "bucket list" plan and hop 'till we DROP!

 

[DisneyDreamer0610]

Touring the World: ADRs

Before leaving I always go over all our reservations and our dining plans. We use the dining plan so there is no fuss or worry about food while we are there. It works GREAT and I LOVE having it, knowing our whole trip from start to finish is paid for and all I have to pay for are tips and extra souviniers if I want. So I have laid out our dining plans. Maybe we will see one another?

July 26th -
Breakfast - Eat at Club Level Lounge
Lunch - Be Our Guest 12:10 PM
Dinner - Columbia Harbour House 7 PM

July 27th -
Breakfast - O'hana - 7:30 AM
Lunch - Cinderella's Royal Table - 11:55 AM
Dinner - 50's Primetime Diner - 6:45 PM - Paying out of pocket!

July 28th -
Breakfast - Club Level Lounge
Lunch - Sunshine Seasons 11:30 AM
Dinner - O'hana 5:05 PM

July 29th -
Breakfast - Club Level Lounge
Lunch - Wherever we want - counter service lunch
Dinner - 1900 Park Fare - 5:25 PM

On another note...
I took the advice of many on the boards and online that have suggested trying Fairy Godmailers and have arranged my kiddos to receive mail from some characters! The mail should be arriving soon and I hope it excites them like I would LOVE for them to be! We shall see!

 

[DisneyDreamer0610]

Planning for Disney: Is It Too Early to Pack?

So I have a pretty awesome document that I have created that is my families packing list! I am getting so excited and with it being 20 days away I am beginning to wonder if I should begin packing? Is it too early? I have so much to do and I use this list as I pre-pack to determine what I still need to go buy at the grocery store for our trip. As you know, we will be gone for 10 days total, but we will be able to wash clothes after the first half of the trip, so that is going to save us some space packing! Here is a breakdown of how we are going to pack and minimize all the stuff we are taking. Learn from me! I found those super comprehensive packing lists online on those "prep for Disney" websites and I used about HALF of what they tell you to pack. Some of the things I didn't use, I was happy I didn't NEED but would have been happy and GLAD I packed, but other stuff was just not necessary, so I have the "skinny" family packing list below.

First thing is first, that lovely PARK BAG: We bring one park bag, that goes in the bottom of the stroller, I carry a Baggallini pink sling "purse", and we also have a collapsable cooler backpack that goes in the bottom of the stroller...and we bring a stroller for our daughter.

Things to NEVER forget while touring in JULY in your park bag:
**Misting spray fans**, pin trading lanyards, camera, baby wipes or antibacterial wipes, cell phones, ziploc baggies (keeps everything dry), Imodium/TUMS/GasX/Tylenol/Advil/Claritin, Band-aids/Moleskin or blister block bandaids (A MUST!!!!!), Chap stick, sun block, gum, batters for camera and fans, ponchos, umbrella, glow sticks for night parade, sunglasses, touring plans (laminated), money, hats, M&M containers w/ quarters for pressed pennies, hand sanitizer, rubber bands for hair, stroller rain cover, body glide

If anything were to happen, those items are items I would definitely be happy I had in the parks, especially for a family of 5! You only need to pack a small amount because the likelihood of everyone needing that item at the same time is small, but it is better to have SOMETHING instead of NOTHING!

We bring a backpack on the plane for each person flying. Each person's backpack will contain 1 change of clothes and entertainment for the flight. We also include a few snacks and a drink in each bag so there are no wants on the plane.

We will bring 3 large suitcases and 1 small suit case on this trip. Our first suit case will contain clothes for my husband and myself. The second suitcase will have clothes for the two boys and the third will contain all the non-perishable, lightweight, foods and items we will bring that we can get cheaper here than in Florida. This suitcase will also carry all toiletries and any shoes that did not fit in other suitcases or bags. The small suitcase will carry my daughters clothes and when we empty the large suitcase with food items and such, this one will fit inside it on our way home if we don't come back with souvenirs! If we do buy souvenirs, room has been accounted for by using up the food items.

Things we bring to make life easier and save money on vacation:
Medicine, laundry detergent (gel packs or pods), fabric softener sheets, pillows, spray lysol, beach towels, dish soap, dishwashing detergent, nightlight, first aid kit, trash bags, power strip, travel sewing kit, liquid hand soap, sweeteners, on the go snacks, nutella snacks, fruit snacks, to-go coffee cups, filters, and coffee, popcorn, ziplock bags, ear plugs, ponchos, lip balm/chapstick, quarters and pennies for pressed penny machines, travel kleenex, batteries for all electronic devices, breakfast bars, poptarts, protein bars, travel cooler, non-dairy coffee creamer (powdered/travel singles), dish sponge, goggles for swimming, and cereal if there is space.

I still have no seen any "fairy godmail" for the kids, and I am patiently waiting for that. I SO hope they get it before we leave! Also, WE JUST RECEIVED our MAGIC BANDS! So I now get to begin decorating those! I am so excited!

Why do we do the quarters and pennies? Well, its a fun activity that teaches your kids to always keep your eyes peeled and on the look out for all kinds of things. When they find one, we stop and let them do the machine and it gives them something to do while an older sibling is doing a ride the younger one can't go on, or the older one doesn't want to do! It's a great little "time spender" that usually gets you indoors cooling off somewhere too. After the trip, they make a great photo frame!

 

[xlsm]

Looks like you have a solid plan and are raring to go!!

I hope your Fairy Godmailer goodies get to your little ones soon.

We're all finally so close!! Ahh!!

So much excitement!!!!

 

[Alyissa]

I just got my Fairy Godmailers! Such FUN!!! I've started to decorate my band.. oh boy!!!!! I love it!!